Criminal Justice News

Sunday, August 19, 2012

ATF National Response Team Activated to Motel Fire in Steele, ND

Landmark
Hotel, Lounge and Restaurant Gutted by Fire

ST. PAUL, Minn — The National Response
Team (NRT) of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF),
along with ATF special agents from the St. Paul Field Division, at the request
of the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), have entered the
investigation into a fire at the Lone Steer Motel, Highway 31, Steele, N.D. The
fire was reported shortly before 9 a.m., Sunday and was heavily involved upon
the arrival of the Steele Fire Department. The team of two dozen agents and
specialists will arrive today and begin the scene investigation.

“ATF is investigating this fire scene
jointly with the BCI and the North Dakota Fire Marshals Office,” said Bernard
J. Zapor, ATF Special Agent in Charge of the St. Paul Field Division. “We will
work together as one unit to determine the origin and cause of this tragic
incident.”

The Steele Fire Department, Steele
Police Department and the Kidder County Sheriff’s Office are also investigative
partners. The total loss of the Lone Steer Motel is approximately $1.5 million.
This is the 13th activation of the NRT in fiscal year 2012, and the 734th activation
since the inception of the team in 1978.

In 1978, ATF developed the NRT to
investigate in partnership with federal, state and local investigators in
meeting the challenges faced at the scenes of significant arson and explosives
incidents. The NRT consists of three teams organized geographically to cover
the United States. Each team can respond within 24 hours to work jointly with
state and local law enforcement/fire service personnel in onsite
investigations. In addition to investigating hundreds of large fire scenes, the
NRT has also been activated to scenes such as the 1993 World Trade Center
bombing, the Oklahoma City Murrah Federal Building bombing and the 9/11
Pentagon crash site, as well as explosions at explosives and ammunition
manufacturing plants, legal fireworks factories and illegal explosive device
manufacturing operations.

The teams are each composed of veteran
special agents who have post blast and fire origin-and-cause expertise;
forensic chemists; explosives enforcement officers; fire protection engineers;
accelerant detection canines; explosives detection canines; intelligence
support, computer forensic support and forensic audit support. The teams work
alongside state and local officers in reconstructing the scene, identifying the
seat of the blast or origin of the fire, conducting interviews, and sifting
through debris to obtain evidence related to the bombing/arson.

Further complementing the team’s efforts
are technical, legal and intelligence advisors.

Moreover, a fleet of fully equipped
response vehicles strategically located throughout the United

States is available to provide
logistical support.

ATF is the federal agency with
jurisdiction for investigating fires and crimes of arson.